Reading Reflection No. 1

Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?
• What surprised me the most was finding out that he ventured into business with the McDonald brothers to create the empire that it is today at such a late age. He was 52 when he met the brothers for the first time.
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I admired his “grind it out” mentality. The fact that through a lot of adversity he remained hard working. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• Ray Kroc showed a somewhat risk it all mentality. In the book he says “...you have to take risks, and in some cases you must go broke. If you believe in something, you've got to be in it to the ends of your toes. Taking reasonable risks is part of the challenge. It's the fun." I think this is pretty stupid. Sure you have to take risks, but going all in and losing everything is a terrible idea.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Yes Ray Kroc encountered much adversity throughout his life. Before he discovered McDonald's, he was a salesman selling paper cups door to door. His life was as a salesman was not easy as he would have to working many hours with Sundays as his only day off. After that, he began selling Multi-mixers, a type of milkshake machine. However, the company he worked for took a cut from his business selling mixers. In the face of adversity he did what he knew best - “grinding it out.”

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 
The same time I admired his never give up work ethic, I believe that it was a competency. Though none of his success would be possible without his hard work, I believe that in an entrepreneur perspective you need to know when to stop. I hate to say it, but Ray Kroc got lucky. If he had not met the McDonald brothers when he did, he would not have created McDonald's into the billion dollar business that it is today. In page 59, Kroc says, “There’s almost nothing you can’t accomplish if you set your mind to it.” Though I agree with it to some degree, hard work can only get you so far. 

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
Toward the end of the book, Kroc says “We must take the risks involved in our free enterprise system. This is the only way in the world to economic freedom. There is no other way.”

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

• I would ask Ray Kroc what kept him going - what woke him up everyday to sell paper cups and multi-mixers before he founded McDonald’s.
• Because I as a person is often unable to mutter enough will to get up and show up to class. The only thing that really gets me up is the fear of failure. I want to know if he a one point felt the same.
• I would also ask him why he believes “each man makes his own happiness and is responsible for his own problems.”
• Because I believe the world is inherently unfair. There are problems that many face just because they were born less privileged than others.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

• Ray Kroc’s opinion of hard work is grind until you make it. In the book he says “...I was just like a lot of show business personalities who work away quietly at their craft for years, and then, suddenly, they get the right break and make it big.”
• I definitely agree with his definition of hard work. However, I do not always believe hard work will lead to results. I believe it is better to work smart.